Thursday, January 3, 2019
Go!
As the New Year has come, what an appropriate time to meditate upon the Lord's word given in Luke 12:35-40.
"35 Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
"I am going to eat better this year", "I will exercise more this year", "I will spend more time with my family". Does this sound familiar? As we turn the new leaf, we are accustomed to new hope-filled resolutions that we aspire to achieve. Yet as the year progresses, it seems that these resolutions vanish into the thin air. I know this all too well, for I am guilty as charged.
Likewise, Jesus instructs His disciples to have several goals in mind. "To be ready", "dressed for action", "keeping the lamps burning and staying awake". It's easy to look at Jesus words and say to ourselves, "I am going to accomplish these things". "I am going to be ready", "I will be dressed for action", "I will keep the lamps lit". "I will stay awake". But what does this really mean? How is this accomplished?
I know, for all of us, we depend on ourselves way too much. We do not fear love and trust in God above all things. We desire to be our own little gods. Ultimately, we try, with human strength, to fulfill these actions in the weakness of sin, but we fall short. I pray that we all approach this New Year with the word "Go".
Go to the Word.
Trusting in the promises of our Lord, we reside in the abounding grace of our Savior. Setting us free by His work upon the Cross and Empty Tomb, we rejoice in the gracious gifts of eternal life, forgiveness and salvation. Through His work, we no longer slumber in spiritual darkness but the Lord awakens us to His Gospel! A blessed comfort for all of us as we remain in His Word! As St Paul says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly"[Col3:16]. So, come to church and bible study [Sundays and Wednesdays], read your bible and pray as we remain and dwell in His blessed promises.
Go to your Baptism.
Putting on Christ [Gal3:27] in the power of God's word in the water, we are robed by His righteousness. Without any merit or worthiness in ourselves, the Lord garments and dresses you for action all by His grace. Rescuing you from the disease of sin, death and the power of the devil, the Lord gives you a new birth from above. We, in faith, have great assurance that the Lord, by the power and promise of Holy Baptism, has grafted us into His name. And through His name, we are dressed and awake, as we wait faithfully in His glorious return.
Go to the Supper of our Lord.
Being fed Jesus true body and blood is the joyous gift that nurtures the body and soul in the promise, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins"[Mt26:28]. Sunday after Sunday, as we partake in Holy Communion, we are sustained and comforted in God's words, "given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins". Joyfully we go, loving and serving in His name!
It has been another blessed year at Faith Lutheran Church and I am so excited to see how the Lord will work through His church this upcoming year. Continue to pray for our church and its mission through Word and Sacrament ministry.
Some prayer topics:
May you all have blessed New Year!
✝️ Pastor Jeong
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come"[2Cor5:17].
The full newsletter can be found here:
http://www.faithmoorpark.com/files/pdf/2019/2019-01-Newsletter.pdf
"35 Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
"I am going to eat better this year", "I will exercise more this year", "I will spend more time with my family". Does this sound familiar? As we turn the new leaf, we are accustomed to new hope-filled resolutions that we aspire to achieve. Yet as the year progresses, it seems that these resolutions vanish into the thin air. I know this all too well, for I am guilty as charged.
Likewise, Jesus instructs His disciples to have several goals in mind. "To be ready", "dressed for action", "keeping the lamps burning and staying awake". It's easy to look at Jesus words and say to ourselves, "I am going to accomplish these things". "I am going to be ready", "I will be dressed for action", "I will keep the lamps lit". "I will stay awake". But what does this really mean? How is this accomplished?
I know, for all of us, we depend on ourselves way too much. We do not fear love and trust in God above all things. We desire to be our own little gods. Ultimately, we try, with human strength, to fulfill these actions in the weakness of sin, but we fall short. I pray that we all approach this New Year with the word "Go".
Go to the Word.
Trusting in the promises of our Lord, we reside in the abounding grace of our Savior. Setting us free by His work upon the Cross and Empty Tomb, we rejoice in the gracious gifts of eternal life, forgiveness and salvation. Through His work, we no longer slumber in spiritual darkness but the Lord awakens us to His Gospel! A blessed comfort for all of us as we remain in His Word! As St Paul says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly"[Col3:16]. So, come to church and bible study [Sundays and Wednesdays], read your bible and pray as we remain and dwell in His blessed promises.
Go to your Baptism.
Putting on Christ [Gal3:27] in the power of God's word in the water, we are robed by His righteousness. Without any merit or worthiness in ourselves, the Lord garments and dresses you for action all by His grace. Rescuing you from the disease of sin, death and the power of the devil, the Lord gives you a new birth from above. We, in faith, have great assurance that the Lord, by the power and promise of Holy Baptism, has grafted us into His name. And through His name, we are dressed and awake, as we wait faithfully in His glorious return.
Go to the Supper of our Lord.
Being fed Jesus true body and blood is the joyous gift that nurtures the body and soul in the promise, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins"[Mt26:28]. Sunday after Sunday, as we partake in Holy Communion, we are sustained and comforted in God's words, "given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins". Joyfully we go, loving and serving in His name!
It has been another blessed year at Faith Lutheran Church and I am so excited to see how the Lord will work through His church this upcoming year. Continue to pray for our church and its mission through Word and Sacrament ministry.
Some prayer topics:
- Pray that the Lord may give us great joy to proclaim the greatest news of the Gospel to all He has placed in our lives.
- Pray that the Lord may give us faith to joyfully serve as beacons of light to our community.
- Pray that God may give us strength to be faithful servants within our God-given vocations.
- Pray that God may continue to open the doors of evangelism to those that need to hear the comforting truth of the Gospel.
May you all have blessed New Year!
✝️ Pastor Jeong
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come"[2Cor5:17].
The full newsletter can be found here:
http://www.faithmoorpark.com/files/pdf/2019/2019-01-Newsletter.pdf
posted by Faith Moorpark
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5:56 PM
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